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Nightfall:Lines in the Sand
AM Omniance: June 16th 2:15 PM Arizona-Utah border, Nemo's Secret Lair AM Arbi: Ricky: He's sitting on the couch in the small living room. For about two hours he's been watching whatever Odie feels like watching since there's nothing else they can really do out here in the middle of the desert. After awhile he stands up and walks away from the couch, passing Kit as he heads into the kitchen. AM Omniance: Kit: He watches Ricky pass by him, then looks back outside. He's been standing in the hall connecting the kitchen and the den since lunch, watching the horizon almost silently. He's wearing his ceremonial outfit again, which is now clean. AM Arbi: Ricky: He starts pacing back and forth in the kitchen, without warning he says. This is taking too long... AM Omniance: Kit: He looks over at Ricky. Then looks back outside. After a long moment of silence he speaks. All we can do is wait. His eyes scan the edges of the mesa. It's a bright, clear day, and outside it quickly got staggeringly hot very quickly. The heat is causing the ground in the distance to ripple and shimmer like water. AM Arbi: Ricky: He looks back at Kit. Wait for what? We still don't even know what they're doing with that book. AM Omniance: Kit: He looks down, knowing that what Ricky has said is true. Fighting the demon directly is impossible. He looks back up, outside. ...But you don't trust them? He looks over in Ricky's direction. AM Arbi: Ricky: Do you? AM Omniance: Kit: No. He looks back outside. Both Yuri and his... Clone, or whatever Nemo is supposed to be, are known murderers that fraternize with demons. AM Arbi: Ricky: He looks towards the stairs in the hallway. They both put Vera through hell... AM Omniance: Kit: The only thing I'm questioning is their willingness to do things like that. Both of them seem to be quick to blame a demon's influence. He sighs. Though I will say, Nemo seems to have been removed from the thing that's now inside Lucas. Seeing him be so thoroughly demonic before, compared to now, makes me at least want to believe his actions weren't entirely his own. Yuri on the other hand... I'm finding it more difficult to decide what I should do with him, when this is all over. AM Arbi: Ricky: Nemo wasn't possessed... he worked alongside his demon. He's just as bad as Yuri. AM Omniance: Kit: He shakes his head. I wish I'd just ignored the assignment to hunt down Yuri. He looks down. Stayed home. AM Arbi: Ricky: He raises an eyebrow when he says that, knowing that he's the reason he's even alive after digging up Avo's grave. You can still go home. AM Omniance: Kit: Leaving wouldn't make this go away. He looks at Ricky. I'm here for a reason, even if that reason turns out to be a simple one. He takes a deep breath and looks away. I'm trying to look at the situation from a distance. He looks down the hall, in the direction of the sound of the T.V. Years ago, I left town to see a dying relative for a few weeks. Things were quieter then, so leaving town wasn't something I gave a second thought. The only real threat was a reclusive cult that hid in the hills and was largely ineffectual. He looks back to Ricky. While I was gone a demon had been slowly infecting the populous, gaining influence. He looks away slowly, back outside, though the look in his eyes makes it obvious he's remembering. And by the time I returned and heard of it, the creature had been dealt with. He tilts his head slightly. In her report she said the epicenter of the event was a young man, who in his vulnerability, fell to something he didn't understand. She said he deserved his chance to continue on and have a life of his own, despite what had happened. The young man had made a grave mistake, but in her wisdom, she saw that he was still capable of being a kind and caring individual. He just needed someone to be there for him. He looks at Ricky for a moment, then back outside. She had no strength or superpowers. But she gave up her life to help people who had demonic influence. She believed in them. He sighs. Believed in you... So abandoning your group now would make me ashamed of myself. God sent her to help you for a reason, and perhaps he sent me here too. AM Arbi: Ricky: He sighs and walks back down the hallway, away from Kit, feeling bad that he compared him to Yuri and Nemo. After a moment Kit can hear the front door opening and closing. AM Omniance: Kit: He just looks back outside after watching Ricky leave, wondering if he's said too much. AM Omniance: Meanwhile... Nemo: He's in his study, wearing a pair of goggles. He's talking to himself as he works. He's hunched for his work table, the tome Yuri stole from Natalya is sitting in front of him. To his right is Avo's hand, three of its fingers are missing. Corpse dust... The door is open. From grandma... Baked and dried at four-hundred degrees... He looks to a small square plate with black powder in it. Oxidized with iron shavings and sulfur powder... He picks up the plate, looking the tome over. After a moment he bends down and raises the plate near his mouth. ...Opening the ill-mother's tome... Attempt number three. He softly blows at the dust and it flows off of the plate and over the large book. As he does he narrows his eyes. Suddenly there's a quiet snapping sound, and the lock on the book unlatches. His eyes go wide and he yells out. I did it! He puts the plate to the side. It's open! AM Arbi: Nemo doesn't hear a response from Yuri in the next room over, the arcade machines may be too loud now since they're both turned on. AM Omniance: Nemo: He grabs the book and runs out of the room. Yuri! He pulls it open. Unlike most of these tomes, the inside looks brand new. Yuri! I got I open! AM Arbi: Yuri: It looks like he's concentrating on Binding of Isaac, from what Nemo can see he's fighting "It Lives". It looks like Yuri's taking too long to beat the boss a monsters are spawning inside the boss room. They start overwhelming him and with only one heart left he gets cornered by all the blood and dies. ...Fuck. AM Omniance: Nemo: He watches Yuri get game over. I got the book open, Yuri. AM Arbi: Yuri: He looks a little sad, like he's been losing to this game for awhile now but he cheers up a little from Nemo's news. Yeah? That's awesome. AM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at the book. Time to try it out... He clears his throat. ...Binding ritual for a first generation demon. The book jumps from his hand, floating in the air in front of him, and flips open. Despite it looking like there's not that many pages in it, the book seems to flip through a few thousand before it stops. Nemo leans forwards and looks at it, reading the page in silence. AM Arbi: Yuri: He walks behind Nemo to look at what he's reading. AM Omniance: The book looks like it's written in scrawled English, hastily written and not well formatted. There's a few very small pictures here and there, but they're not even well drawn. Nemo: I have everything we need for this. He looks at Yuri with a bit of a smile. AM Arbi: Yuri: Everything to save Lucas? He looks at him before looking back down at the page. AM Omniance: Nemo: It's a little more complicated than that I think. I'll be able to bind the demon, make it weaker, but we're still going to be in for a fight. First generation demons aren't easily bound or expelled. He looks back down at the page. And we'll need Lucas here for me to perform it, which means... We can either wait and prepare more, or summon him and have him here on our own terms. He looks back up at Yuri. Either way can be dangerous. AM Arbi: Yuri: ...The last time we bound a demon I got third degree burns and Lucas was legally dead for about a minute. AM Omniance: Nemo: ...You guys put your trust in Veronica, that woman has no clue what the hell she's doing. He doesn't seem to approve of her at all with the look he's giving Yuri. AM Arbi: Yuri: He leans back against the arcade machine. I'd just like to avoid fighting a demon... can't we just banish it to hell? AM Omniance: Nemo: Hmm... You're right. He looks back towards the book. Banishment ritual for a first generation demon. The book jump and flips through another few hundred pages before suddenly stopping. Nemo reads the page silently. This one is actually a little simpler than the other... I suppose that's because grandma use her binding spells to gain power, not just to bind... Explains how Ricky still packs a punch... This is old shamanistic magic... It requires a very large glyph. He looks up at Yuri. I'll be outside. He smiles a little. Making the glyph will take a few hours, I think. AM Arbi: Yuri: A few hours? He gets off the arcade machine and follows him. AM Omniance: Nemo: At least it'll be dark by then. You won't have to hide inside. He walks up the stairs, seeing Kit standing at the window still. AM Arbi: Yuri: He slows down and stops before he reaches the top of the stairs, watching Nemo walk out of sight. AM Omniance: Nemo: He walks passed Odie. Odie: You open that book yet? He's watching the news, nothing interesting. Nemo: Yeah. He opens the front door and walks outside, running down the steps he nearly stumbles a few times, but recovers easily enough each time. He walks out into the front area, down the small hill his house is built into and looks around for a large enough spot. He looks back at the book and starts dragging his shoe through the dirt, tracing long lines. AM Arbi: Ricky: He's standing near the edge of the mesa, finishing off the cigarette in his hand before he drops it and steps on it. Just when he's about to turn and walk back to the house he sees Nemo in the distance dragging his foot across the dirt. He watches him for a moment before walking up to him. AM Omniance: Nemo: He seems so focused on what he's doing, that he doesn't notice Ricky until he nearly runs into him. He stops and looks up at him. ...I got the book open. He says it plainly, unsure of what else to say. AM Arbi: Ricky: He looks down at the book in his hand, he doesn't appear to be moving out of the way so Nemo can continue drawing the glyph with his foot. AM Omniance: Nemo: Are you gonna move? He looks annoyed. AM Arbi: Ricky: ...It's me or your boyfriend. He looks at him. I remember you saying that to me in the dream. AM Omniance: Nemo: Not anymore. Now get out of the way so I can finish trying to save him. He glares up at Ricky, starting to get mad. AM Arbi: Ricky: He takes a step back to let him continue drawing but the moment Nemo passes him he feels him grab his arm and twist it back hard I'm not going to play fair. He twists it harder, forcing him down on his knees and causing his grip on the book to weaken enough that it falls to the ground. No matter how many horrible things I may do to you... I can live with it, because I've already done so much worse. AM Omniance: Nemo: He doesn't cry out as he kneels on the ground, but it's obvious that it hurts. ...You always show your true colors, Ricky... He doesn't seem surprised, looking at the ground. Violent and stupid, ready to bully whoever you think deserves it. He looks at Ricky. Do whatever you want. You've already done it to me before. He has a blank expression as he looks up at Ricky. AM Arbi: Ricky: Not even a week ago you told me you were going to kill me and all of my friends... AM Omniance: Nemo: He looks away, not saying anything. AM Arbi: Ricky: He sees he's not gonna say anything. You've kept all of us in the dark about what you're planning and why you're even helping us. We're nervous and scared right now... I think you can take two minutes of your glyph to talk to me. AM Omniance: Nemo: He frowns a little as he stares at the reddish dirt, some of the things he said to Ricky in that dream coming back to him. He takes a deep breath, his new shoulder is really starting to hurt. ...I realize I'm still... Probably the bad guy... To a lot of you. Yuri trusts me, and I only cared about his trust. I didn't take into account that you and Odie probably think I'm up to something, or still hate me after what I've done... I'm not used to working with people like this. He looks back at Ricky. Especially you and Odie. AM | Edited 3:39:17 AM Arbi: Ricky: He lets go of his arm. I'm not used to working with you either... you look exactly like him. AM Omniance: Nemo: He stands up and rubs his arm and shoulder lightly, looking down at the book. He looks like he's trying really hard not to lose his temper. ...Let me... Try to explain myself... And what I'm doing... And why I'm doing it then. He bends down and picks up the book, looking up at Ricky as he stands up straight. ...I don't have any good memories of you, Ricky. I know that's... Not your fault. You never actually did those things to me, and the reason you did them was probably because you went through what Odie went through, after the Prince "cured" him. You were just... Angry, instead of scared I think. He shakes his head and takes a slow breath, calming down. I got a chance to make things right when I was put here. He moves some of his hair from his face, it's still brown. So I did as much as I could to see it through. When we last spoke, I was... Trying to make myself angry, and I think I gave into that negativity inside of me a lot more than I realized. I said I would do things I never wanted to do. Made threats I thought I had to. He shakes his head. It was easy for me to do that, seeing you. He looks down. Now I have another chance to set things right, maybe once and for all. Everything I've done for the last five years was to save Lucas and Yuri. I've avoided you and Odie because... I'm trying to stay positive, and both of you... Were terrible, in my time. But I think that's unfair to you two... He raises an eyebrow at Ricky and moves his shoulder a little. Maybe. AM Arbi: Ricky: You do know I have sex with Vera, right? I'm not the same guy that beat you up in school... AM Omniance: Nemo: He almost seems to blush for a moment, before immediately looking stern. I would hope that you do. He looks awkward all of the sudden. A-anyway, I know you're not the same guy, but after dealing with that guy for nearly five years it's hard to see you as... Not him. You know? AM Arbi: Ricky: He looks back towards the house. Yeah... five years is a long time, but you said you were avoiding Odie too. He looks back at him. What's the deal? AM Omniance: Nemo: He seems hesitant to talk for a moment, looking back up at the house. Nightmares of him crushing Yuri's head have plagued me for ten years. AM Arbi: Ricky: He looks down at Nemo for a moment before quietly sighing and walking up to him, hugging him. AM | Edited 4:03:36 AM Omniance: Nemo: A look of confusion appears on his face. He almost wants to get away from him, but decides to lightly hug Ricky back, almost awkwardly. AM Arbi: Ricky: He remembers all those nights where Lucas would wake up from his nightmares. He holds back sounding too sad around Nemo. ...I would always hug him whenever he would wake up from one of his nightmares. AM Omniance: Nemo: I know... He still feels uneasy about this hug. ...I... Didn't cause those... He sighs quietly. ...I didn't want him to see what I'd been through... Or do things I would do... I never wanted that... AM Arbi: Ricky: He lets go of Nemo and looks to the side as he steps back. It was all the demon? He looks at him, feeling better knowing that. AM Omniance: Nemo: I thought It might be some nonsense where we're both the same person, so we'd get each other's memories or something. He shakes his head. ...I didn't realize what this thing was capable of, despite trying to fight it for ten years, it was smart enough to scare me into a corner, it fooled me into thinking I had always been losing, when it was right where I always wanted it all along. He looks down at the starting line of the glyph. ...We know it's name. We have the book. I'll do everything to save Lucas from it. I won't let it put him through everything I went through. He looks at Ricky. AM Arbi: Ricky: He smiles, feeling much better now about Nemo. He looks back down at the lines Nemo traced on the ground. You're making a glyph, right? He raises his hand, his five fingers lighting on fire. Burning the lines into the ground will work a lot better than chalk out here... you mind if I help? AM Omniance: Nemo: I... Uh... No... I guess I don't mind... Heh. He smirks a little, there's a warm breeze in the air. He opens the book and flips through it, almost instantly turning back to the last page he was on. I'll... I'll start the outline and you just trace? He looks back to Ricky, but hears someone walk out of the house, so he looks over, seeing Kit standing on the patio, he pays it no mind and looks back to Ricky. AM Arbi: Ricky: He walks over to the lines Nemo already made, not even noticing Kit as he gets down on his knees and steadies his demonic hand. A highly concentrated small flame erupts from his palm, allowing him to start tracing over the lines in the dirt that leaves a dark burnt line. AM Omniance: Nemo: He starts carefully dragging his foot through the earth. Kit: He looks around at the horizon, then winces slightly, his expression changes and he furrows his eyebrows. He leaps over the railing on the patio and lands, immediately breaking into a sprint, picking up speed as he runs, quickly reaching a speed that none of them could even match halfway. He runs over a hundred yards straight, then slides to a stop at the far edge of the mesa, gazing down into the desert. There, across the heated red vastness runs a long highway. He can't see anything, not normally, but beyond the mesas of this untouched land, he can sense it. Like a far off smell of diesel, lingering on the wind. He looks back at Ricky and Nemo, and yells out across the mesa. He knows we're here! He turns and looks back out at the desert below and rubs his eyes, blinking a few times. As his vision clears he sees there in the distance, like a glimmering black spot burned into the shimmering highway miles away, he makes out a young man riding a motorcycle.